By Jeff Linville,
New Castle,  Del.-based Furniture Barn is the latest juvenile retailer to feature a La-Z-Boy Kidz gallery.


The May grand opening celebrated the nearly 2,000-square-foot gallery featuring  kids furniture, top-of-bed items and accessories from La-Z-Boy’s youth company, Lea Inds.
 
  “We  are very excited to be a part of the La-Z-Boy Kid’s family,” said owner David  Barnes. “The La-Z-Boy brand is so strong and so well known, and it is the perfect  brand for children’s furniture where mothers want to buy a product from a  company they really trust.”
 
The dedicated section features nine furniture groups as well as the La-Z-Boy Kidz’  Room In A Box accessory program. It takes up about 10% of the store’s 20,000  square feet.

“Furniture  Barn represents one of the best and most successful independent furniture operations in the country, and we are more than proud to celebrate this opening  with them,” said Johne Albanese, Lea’s vice president of marketing.

Dave Everett, store general manager, said consumers have been highly complimentary  of both the gallery and the products. “We just couldn’t be happier with the  response we’ve received. This is going to be one of the best galleries we’ve  done,” he said. The store previously had Bassett and Broyhill galleries, but  doesn’t now.

“The children are running from one area to another like they’re in a toy store,” said owner Pame Barnes. “The children and parents alike love the whole package.  Some consumers think they have to go somewhere else to furnish the room, but  now they can offer the comforters, lamps, mirrors, bookends and other items to fill out the room.”
La-Z-Boy Kidz now has more than 450 gallery  locations throughout the United States and Canada.